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Pakistan qualified for their third T20 World Cup final after securing a formidable seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first semifinal on Wednesday, November 9. After the match, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar was quick to highlight the reason for Pakistan's victory, heaping praise on the opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
“The opening partnership stabilizes the whole innings. Chasing 152, if the opposition cannot get a wicket in the first six overs, it puts pressure on them. That’s exactly what they did, that was the key,” said Gavaskar.
The Saqlain Mushtaq-coached side restricted New Zealand to just 152 runs, with the bowlers taking control in the powerplay itself. Then, Babar and Rizwan put up a 105-run partnership, dominating the powerplay before Trent Boult got the breakthrough. Gavaskar opined that the Men in Green dominated both the bowling and batting powerplays.
“Every time we say in the IPL, whoever wins the powerplay goes on to win the match more often than not. There are two powerplays in both innings. If you win both the powerplays as Pakistan did, it clearly meant that they were going to win,” said Gavaskar.
He also believes that side had it in them, and this is evident even in the match against India, “At the start of the tournament you wouldn’t say that but now they’ve got to the finals, you’re saying it’s a well-knit team. This is exactly how we are. When we lose, we keep pointing fingers at what’s going wrong.
And once you reach the finals, all you’ve done is forgotten. I don’t think there was anything different in this Pakistan team, from what we saw today and what we saw in the first game against India,” Gavaskar added.
